Zian Flemming exclusive: The Den will always be a home for me – I had mixed feelings when I left Millwall

BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk

Zian Flemming will be an opposition player if he comes to support his Burnley team-mates on Sunday – but the Den will always feel like home to the Amsterdam-born attacking midfielder.

The 26-year-old scored 23 goals and contributed nine assists during his two-season stay with Millwall but joined the Clarets at the end of August on a season-long loan with an obligation to buy.

Flemming is unable to play against the South Londoners this weekend as part of the agreement.

“Players constantly come and go from football clubs and I’m also one of those hundreds of players to do that,” Flemming told the South London Press.

“I spent two seasons at Millwall and what is that in a lifetime of a supporter? It’s nothing, really. But those two seasons in my life have been incredibly special.

“I just felt so at home – privately, in the squad with the lads and also with the fans. I come and go but Millwall is not a club that has come and gone for me.

“It will always be a special place for me and I hope the fans think the same way, the other way around. I don’t blame them if not – because of how many players come and go.

“The best way I can probably say it is that when I left I had mixed feelings. I knew it was a good move for my career, I was really excited to make the next step but, at the same time, I was sad because it meant my time at Millwall was now over.

“It happened so quickly (on transfer deadline day). All of a sudden it was over just like that.”

Millwall paid in the region of £1.7million to bring in Flemming from Fortuna Sittard in June 2022.

He scored 15 goals in his first season in England as Gary Rowett’s side excruciatingly saw a Championship play-off spot slip out of their grasp due to a spectacular and sickening second-half implosion against Blackburn in SE16.

Millwall knocked back multiple offers from Burnley, then newly-promoted to the Premier League, for Flemming.

The Lions were unable to build on their top-six near miss, instead being dragged into the dogfight at the wrong end of the table before Neil Harris returned in February and hauled the team clear of danger with fixtures to spare.

“They were two very different seasons,” said Flemming, who still contributed eight goals despite Millwall’s struggles. “The first one I got into a team that was already around the top-10 for three or four consecutive years.

“We and I just jumped on that train and continued that chase to get into the top six, which happened as well during that season. I managed to get a big role that season and I was really happy with it.

“The second one was really messy. We had three different managers and the team and myself were struggling. I didn’t hit the numbers I had hit normally throughout my career.

“Sometimes there is adversity in football – it is not always smooth for clubs or individuals.

“The fact we managed to bring it over the line at the end of the season and secure safety was maybe just as big an achievement as being around the top six the whole of the last one.”

Flemming’s task at the top end of the pitch was made harder by being part of a team that was toiling.

In his first campaign he was right near the top of the Championship charts for shots but there was a big drop off the next time around.

Flemming is not one to make excuses.

“I look at myself and I would never blame the team because it was not going as smoothly as we wanted,” he said. “I always turn it around. If we lost 1-0 then I will think if I had scored at 0-0 then we’d have probably won.

“It is not that easy, because there are multiple layers in football. It is more complicated than that, but it is always the way I have looked at it.

“I want to make the difference. I want to be the reason the team is doing well, regardless of our position in the league or how difficult the opposition is. I demand from myself to get a goal or an assist every game to make the team win. That is the pressure and responsibility I’ve always put on myself.”

Flemming featured 92 times for Millwall. He won their 2022-23 Player of the Season.

“I would like to say I’ve enjoyed every bit of my time there but it is not 100 per cent true,” said Flemming. “I only find football fun when you are winning. When you are losing it is very frustrating. I can’t really take it very well.

“Despite that, fundamentally I’ve always been incredibly happy during my time at Millwall. I enjoyed living in London a lot and so did my missus – we had the possibility to have family and friends over and they enjoyed it.

“Regardless of the results, which were sometimes good and sometimes bad, we always had a changing room that made things better. The connection we all had made it special. If we were sat on the coach for five hours for an away game, I wouldn’t be bored or annoyed. You were with your mates.

“I really enjoyed it, apart from that second season when we were losing too many games and we weren’t where we should’ve been in the table. That always takes the happiness out of you a little bit.”

Flemming’s highlight moment is one he describes as “a bit controversial” – the 4-3 loss to Blackburn on May 8, 2023. Millwall were 3-1 up at the interval and set to clinch a play-off place.

Ben Brereton Diaz scored a late winner for Rovers as they prevailed 4-3, hitting the Lions on the counter as they desperately attempted to turn the contest back around.

Those fans who stayed for the traditional lap of honour were stunned into silence.

“I have never played in an atmosphere like it,” said Flemming. “The whole build-up – the warm-up and coming out on to the pitch – The Den was so loud.

“That first-half performance was almost as good as Millwall can get. We were powerful, aggressive, scoring goals and the crowd was behind us. It was just amazing and we felt unstoppable. Then the second half happened and that is where the highlight ends, obviously.”

Flemming earned instant acceptance from the Lions fanbase before he had kicked a ball.

“He comes from Amsterdam, he f***** hates West Ham,” rang out around numerous stadiums in England’s second tier.

“That was the chant from day one,” said Flemming. “Someone sent it to me on a banner or flag when I had just signed. That symbolises for me the warm welcome I had from the whole club, but also from the fans.

“I will never forget that either. It gives me a warm feeling, the way they received me and supported me. It has a flywheel effect when you start scoring goals and celebrating good moments.

“I’ve accepted it now that I can’t play on Sunday but I wanted to – just because The Den has been so much fun. I’d have been on the pitch with my Millwall team-mates, even though I’m against them now.

“I would’ve loved the experience of being in an away team there. I know how hard it is, having been on the home side. I was curious and excited to see it from a different side – but it would have been like coming home.

“I’m almost sure I will come and watch, it depends a bit on my schedule. My plan is to come, definitely.

“It will be good, first and foremost, to see my old team-mates, just to say ‘hi’ to them. It felt like I left the training ground within an hour (of Burnley’s bid being accepted). It will be nice to be there for a bit and see a few people. Even though I can’t contribute to Millwall’s success and growth personally anymore, I hope the profit they’ve made on me will contribute to the club more than I could ever do myself.”

MAIN PICTURE: PA